I can't tell you how excited Copeland was when this cute SoYoung backpack and lunchbox arrived.
As soon as I took them out of the box and put it on him he picked up the lunchbox and said
"bye mom! I'm going to Disneyland." He's such a goof :) No joke, he will stuff these bags full and
then pretend to be going to work, to the store, to the park. It's so cute watching him and his imagination.

It's also so crazy to think that I'll be signing him up for preschool next year and these will come in handy.
But for now we will play and pretend and use them over the summer.

I've been making a huge effort to clean out our house of anything toxic. Yes, I've totally turned into one of those
crazy essential oil, coconut oil, green product moms but after watching so many documentaries about how many
chemicals are in our daily household items, it's pretty scary. Especially when you have little ones who are crawling
(and eating. Yep that would be son licking his spilled milk off the floor #facepalm), and climbing up on the counters
to spray and then rub around the counter top cleaner. I've never been so happy over the decision I've made to keep
safe products in our home. Anyway, what I love most about these raw linen backpacks and lunch boxes is that
they are PVC, Phtalate, Lead and BPA free. I also love that they are machine washable and dishwasher safe
plus they are stinkin cute as could be!

We are in full on remodel mode over here trying to get everything done before April
and it's actually been a lot of fun! But like I've mentioned before, we are a little obsessed
with home projects haha. Our new counter tops and sink are being installed in just a
couple more days and I'm so excited to get the house put back together and move onto
the boys' room.

I honestly cannot wait to for the new sink. I think that will be my favorite part! Our current
sink is in awful condition. I think we've replaced the faucet about 3 times since moving in
4 years ago and for some reason we just keep buying the same crappy one. The sink itself
is completely chipped everywhere and it's pretty much a black, rotted mess. So having a new
sink and faucet that actually work will be like a dream!

As far as the counter tops go I'm nervous and excited about them. I never have really minded
our current laminate counters. They are a light beige color and honestly I've never been a
huge fan of granite so changing out the counters was never a top priority. But now that we
are thinking about selling we know it's a must. We chose a marble alternative which I think
will look great but not sure if it will be too much white with the cabinets and white subway
back splash. But I mean honestly, is there such a thing as too much white? ;)

So here is just a little reminder of the kitchen when we bought the house and a current photo
before we get the counter tops, sink and back splash installed. It's so crazy to look back at
all we've done to the house. This little place has been such a great starter home for our little family :)

I will hopefully be able to get some pictures this weekend of everything and get a post written

(if I can get my pregnant self to begin and finish tiling the back splash haha). I really can't wait

to share it with you guys and hopefully provide a little inspiration, links and DIY's for your

own renovations on a budget!

Okay... and I couldn't resist posting one more sneak peek of our family room with
the sweetest little addition of baby brothers rocking cradle. All the heart eyes for his
little corner of the room!

Oh you guys, I feel like my blog has been nothing but a big complain-fest/outlet for me lately.
I'm really sorry. I'm so ready to have this baby and get back to feeling like my happy self again!

We went on a little weekend getaway this past weekend to get some sunshine and it was so nice!
Now that we are back home, I really hope it's prettier where ever you are than it is here in Utah.
The news issued a warning saying not go outside because the air quality is SO bad that it can potentially
cause birth defects in babies of pregnant women... YIKES! So here I am, just about 30 weeks pregnant,
sitting inside (snacking on Nutella and strawberries so it's not that bad), browsing beautiful sunny pictures of
people's gardens on Pinterest and dreaming of spring and summer dresses.

I was pregnant during the entire summer with Copeland so I'm pretty happy that this little one will be here the
end of April so I can avoid being completely swollen everyday ;) Seriously though, I looked likeViolet Beauregarde blueberry style pretty much all of July and August. If you've been pregnant during the summer then you know, it's not fun.Anyway, during the summer my go-to clothing is typically sun dresses and skirts. They are just easy, comfy and usually pretty cool during 90 degree days. So since little man will be here at the end of April and I don't expect my body to bounce back right away I'm definitely looking forward to getting some more comfy, loose and pretty summer dresses and skirts. I'm loving the ones I linked above with the muted colors and pretty cuts. Oh I'm just really really happy it's February, Valentine's day is in a few days and spring time is so close! I've missed waking up to birds chirping outside :)

*Josh made our media console which I love! The $1,000 one from West Elm wasn't in our budget so we found THESE plans to build our one for about $150. I'l be sharing a post on it later with the stain and hardware we used.

I wanted to share a little sneak peak with you guys on how the house is coming along. It's been quite a while since we did any major changes but we are back at it and so excited!

Josh and I are huge believers in DIY projects. Our whole house has been one big DIY project but we love it. When we bought the house 4 years ago we knew it was our starter home and not a place that would be our forever home. It's small you guys, roughly 1300 sq ft., no basement and hardly any storage. So Josh and I have finally come to the decision that we either need to sale or rent it out. And we've given ourselves a 12 month timeline to do so.

It's really hard thinking about leaving this little place. We bought this house together. We brought Copeland home here, bought our first dog here and have made so many special memories in this home. Not to mention all of the sweat and tears that have gone into all the projects we've done. Renovating both bathrooms, updating the kitchen, installing new floor, building a garden and a pergola in the back, just to name a few. A lot of time and love has been spent on this house so I would definitely say I'm very much emotionally attached this place. Sadly I know it is too small and we are looking forward to building a forever home.

Alright, now onto the fun stuff! As you can see we had carpet that splits up the family room and kitchen open plan layout. It made the small family room appear even smaller. Not only that, the carpet that was in here was awful. It was the cheapest carpet you can buy and it was starting to become stretched out. That on top of the stains, it just had to go. As much as I love carpet, I prefer the wood look in the living areas and carpet in the bedrooms.

Josh and I have talked about replacing the carpet for about 3 months now and we finally just went to the store and made a decision and did it! It's not the exact color I wanted but it was cheap and of good quality which will be perfect if we rent it out and hopefully if we go to sale it potential buyers will love the flow from the kitchen into the family room. We decided on laminate flooring planks from Home Depot. At .79 a sq. ft. it was a no brainer. We were able to do the entire kitchen/family room area, laundry room and hallway for $400! This left enough money in the budget to get new coutertops in the kitchen, a new farmhouse sink, faucet and backsplash! More on that later :)

I honestly couldn't be happier with how the floor looks and makes the house feel! But man, let me tell you what, installing flooring with a toddler who wants to turn each plank of wood into a car ramp, wrap himself up in the underlayment and pretend it's a bed and just REALLY wants to help daddy take out the carpet tacks makes for an especially hard carpet removal and floor install. Add in one super needy husky pup and being 7 months pregnant and you can pretty much imagine how our nights have been. Good thing Josh and I love doing this so much and can keep each other smiling and laughing through it all :)

Onto the design. I love home design. I love that it's always changing and nothing is ever set in stone. I am always changing my mind when it comes to our home. One minute I'm all about the minimalist style of living. I'll go raid the house and get rid of EVERYTHING and think "Ohh no more clutter, I love this!" and then bam! the next day I'm just like "I need color! I need more pillows, more knick knacks, something, anything, why is it so bare!?" Seriously, my mind is a mess sometimes.

Colors change, pieces change and trends change constantly so I really want to keep the counters, flooring and walls neutral and classic, nothing too trendy. For accents I'm obsessed with pale pink lately. I've had a special place in my heart for peach but have always been scared to really use it. I guess now that I'm the only girl in the house among soon to be THREE boys I need something feminine around me :) So I really would love to add a pink or peachy colored rug to the family room. I think it will add a lot of pretty-ness to the room but not over power it.

I love bringing the outside in when it comes to indoor decorating. There's something about having live greenery in the home that makes my heart happy and puts a smile on my face in the mornings. So I will be adding LOTS of plants, potted plants, hanging plants, tall plants, shorts plants... Okay kinda starting to feel like I'm reading a Dr. Suess book haha!